The next afternoon, I geared up for round two. North West Yearly Meeting, the other for our area, was just starting their Yearly Meeting at George Fox University in Newberg, the Evangelical Quaker Mecca. I thought it would be interesting going to the meetings back to back for comparison’s sake. I had arranged to attend the Young Adult Barbecue in the evening, 30-40 Quaker young adults in one spot, I couldn’t pass that up. What a fantastic chance to let people know about our project! I was also thrilled to see my friend Krissi from seminary. We met when we shared a room at the retreat where I had decided to become a Quaker. It was nice to see a friendly face and to catch up with each other over dinner.
Finding my way around George Fox, like OSU, was not a problem as I earned my Master’s at their Portland campus, and had visited the main campus a handful of times. Most of their meetings took place in Bauman Auditorium so display in hand, I found the spot reserved for me on a table near the end of the hall. A friendly looking woman stopped to talk with me about the project and as soon as she found out I was from Freedom Friends Church, she started laughing. Not giggling, but out right, head thrown back laughing. Puzzlement roamed my face as I tried to figure out what I had just said that was so funny. Seeing my question, she slowly recovered and explained to me she had been “out” for several years and that attending yearly meeting was difficult for her as they were not accepting of that. She had visited us before, even knew Alivia, and liked the church. Finding out we were both artists and spiritual directors, we got along well and she invited me to sit with her for the evening worship and talk.
After sitting beside her, I busied myself looking around the auditorium and felt very much at home. Unlike the other yearly meeting, this group are Christians and there was a candle in the front with some quote about the kingdom. It reminded me a bit of the church I grew up in and perhaps for that reason, I felt more open to entering into the experience. We sang great old hymns I have loved since childhood, words that resound deeply in my heart. I also knew a row of friends from a church I enjoy attending in Portland were sitting a few rows back which included one of my closest friends from seminary.
I managed to get through the talk without getting horribly wriggly. (My attention span is not wonderful and I noticed others around me also shared this affliction after two hours.) And at that point, it could have ended as an interesting night. But North West Yearly Meeting is the meeting through which I became a Quaker, it’s my Quaker home, and so I know a TON of people who were there. For the rest of the night, I could never get very far without seeing another friend. I got to talk about the project with many who were interested in what we were creating and I got to hand out a lot of writing submission guidelines. Seeing all my friends was the best part though and I am really glad I went. On Wednesday, I will be attending all day so am sure I will be writing about this Yearly Meeting again.